June: Island service

After we tested the still un-named boat (we are taking submissions now--ideas we have had are "Unsinkable 2", "The Time is at Hand", "Kingdom Proclaimer", "Gift of Love", "Jolly Preacher", "WeebleWobble", "Paradise's Preachers"), we have been using it in service ALOT!  We have tons of fun heading to Bastimentos on Thursdays.  This is an island that is about 20 minutes away by boat.  This island is rich for culture and English studies.  Many of us have wonderful experiences there as we teach receptive people about the Truth.  It's crazy as we head to from the kingdom hall to the boat then arrive at Bastimentos...we fill the boat!

Gotta lock up your bikes!  I call this work of art:  "Bike Puke"

Raymond takes a Spanish group out to various islands on Tuesdays and a English group out on Fridays.  He will post more about that and share some pictures later.  I just don't have them or all the fun stories he knows from his adventures.

I do have one time that I was able to go out on a Friday though, right before we left for the International Convention in Seattle.  It was so much fun.  We enjoyed working the outer part of the main island of Bocas.  Most of it is only assessible via boat and that was where we came in:)

As we started our day we pulled up to a dock, we weren't sure if there was a house there or not, so a small group of 3 got out to explore the unknown.  The rest of us waited...

As we waited someone grabbed a rock and etched in the dock JW.org

We all thought that was cute so Ty pointed to it.  Perfectly captured his finger as the dot.

Here they come all muddy and with no house...oh well!  Nice try team!

Then a bit later, we come across another dock...this one has signs of life about and we can see a structure beyond the trees.  So Madi, Ty and Lynette jump off the boat to talk with whoever may be here.  I say that since often, people come build their beautiful homes and head back to their native country because they miss grandkids or family.  They leave their homes in the care of someone here and pay them to live their and maintain the house and property until they come maybe once or twice a year to visit.  On this property, however, as they near the end of the dock away from us, the sound of a nearing bark begins to beckon them to head back to the boat ASAP!!  Breaking the tree hedge, comes a huge German shepherd racing towards my babies and friend.  Madi literally leaps onto the boat, Lynette grabs Ty and jumps, I stabilize them and shove off just as the dog reaches the end of the dock...we were a little worried that he might jump aboard, so we had put up some of our bags just in case.  It felt like a close call!  As we pull away though, the lady of the house comes down the dock too, we carefully pull back up and chat with her (not interested) FROM THE BOAT!!!  It all happened pretty quickly, so I have no shots of this...there were more pressing things to do then take pictures, like help save my kids and friends from getting eaten:)

After that we all were pretty hyped up and were chatting amiably as we made our way around the bends.  As we talked about our near death experience[;-)], we came upon another really long dock.  This time as we came up, we saw afar something lying on the dock.  I half joking said, what if it's a body...

As we neared the dock, we could see that, Yes, it was a body--sleeping on the dock!  A couple of brothers got out to go chat with the poor working man we just woke up from a lunch break nap.  They had an amazing discussion with him and left some literature for his reading pleasure.

After that we also ate some lunch then continued on our way.

As we came to another house, we realized this was a private resort.  The Brazilian man, his fiancee, and her son came out and engaged a brother (who came speaking Portuguese) in a wonderful talk.  He was so cordial, he invited us all out--we felt uncomfortable with this, but about 4 ended up joining him on the porch, then sharing the video about why we should have a bible study from JW.org.

As we sat, we learned the fine art of taking a picture of something in a stealthy way pretending to take a selfie...It really works:)

Then we came upon a house where the 2 housekeepers came out and wanted to chat with us too.  They wanted some information in Spanish, so we scrounged around the boat and our bookbags to see if we had anything to share.  These two sisters speak Spanish, so it was really nice to be able to witness to people who had not hear the Truth for many years.  That is why there is a huge need here..it is hard for those of us (In Spanish and English) need greating here to meet the needs of our studies in town and all of the interest in these only by boat territories.  

They too wanted to and enjoyed watching a video...it was a downloaded Caleb video...the little guys wants to watch too!

After a wonderfully fulfilling day, we ended up at Starfish Beach to let our hair down!

So many visitors on this trip, but what is nice, is we are all one loving brotherhood!  It's amazing to be able to meet people from around the world that you wouldn't have ever met before.  What a great experience for us right before we head to the US for International Convention!